DDW: The Spider

[Jim Roberts]

[Feb 5 – The Waterworks]

> “But I had more!” the bard lamented, seeing the peace around her.
>
> “Keep it going!” the Abbot suggested. “I want to reach that Ecru thing
> while my buffs are still running!”

This, Tramma most cheerfully did, continuing to enumerate various
different possible names for the creatures they had just defeated. There
was, perhaps, just a bit of a desire to harvest any saleable pieces of
the enormous femtopedes, but the more practical minded quickly pointed
out that the deceased creatures would still be here on their return. A
return that would not be far away, given that they were only a few
minutes jog at most from the end of this expanse of the Waterworks
tunnel network and the suspected lair of Ecru, the Spider Recluse.

Laquendi took no part in this discussion, and instead chanted a quick
Arcane spell, tracing out some red and yellow glowing lines in midair.
Those well versed in Arcane Magics could recognize the casting as a
simple Spider Climb, a spell that would allow the dusky elf to scramble
on all fours up walls or even across the ceiling. Though curiously,
Laquendi’s version did not involve consuming an actual live spider.
Finfin still had fond memories of Huntress Gil’s mint flavoured tiny
spiders for just this spell, drawing a smile to his face as he returned
his shield from its spot on his forearm and around onto his back.

The team then proceeded to hustle their way northwards, the clock on
their various “medium term” buffs inexorably counting down. There was no
time for spellcasting at this double rate, but nobody needed any.
Laurelin’s Glowing Globe provided additional human friendly light,
allowing those who were not elves the ability to move at this quick pace
without fear of tripping.

And all throughout, Tramma continued her Bardic Infused chant. It was
evidently becoming a bit of a strain, but she was a trained musician,
well schooled in how to properly breathe, and her ditty continued
uninterrupted.

Right out is micropede
I have doubts for decipede
You could convince me of megapede
I mislike the sound of hectopede

And towards the end of the expected few minutes jog, those in the
vanguard could see a glittering array of lights reflecting back at them,
some sixty feet away.

“Spider!” someone gasped.

“Spiders,” someone else forecast, emphasising the plural.

“Or a crazy cat lady with lots of felines,” countered a third.
Laurelin’s Glowing Globe clearly did not like what it saw, whether for
fear of a singular spider, multiple spiders, or subacute regional
lymphadenitis, usually known as “cat scratch fever”, remained unclear.

Ben, however, had a simple solution. “Charrrrrge!” he bellowed, and set
words into action, racing forward at full tilt, sword and shield at the
ready. Behind him, Finfin shrugged and followed suit, barely two steps
behind. Sometimes there WAS something to be said for the simpler
solutions, and if not, he wanted to be on hand in case the Holy Man got
himself in too deep. As he ran, he chanted the quickest of possible
spells, one hand leaving the hilt of his blade long enough to curtly
draw a single glowing orange and yellow line. Normally, spellcasting at
a full charge was simply not possible… but Finfin was doing it, and the
fellow wizards in the group could readily recognize a Quickened Shield
spell snapping into being.

Laquendi did not advance. Instead, using the ability granted to her by
her Spider Climb spell, she swarmed up the nearest wall and hung upside
down on the ceiling. There, the dusky elf waited, her selected spell at
the ready. She had no doubts that they were up against a spider, and she
was pretty certain that she understood how spiders would fight. Laquendi
would be ready.

The rest of the Away Team was taking a selection of different actions,
all more prudent than the two charging “tanks”. Most advanced only
halfway along the distance between themselves and the glowing
reflections, and stopped. At this closer vantage, Laurelin’s Glowing
Globe now revealed what they were up against. Only one of the three
predictions turned out to be correct, and the Away Team was not facing
either a collection of spiders, or a crazy cat lady with her brood.
Instead, obscenely overhanging the edges of a tall platform was a
massive, bloated figure of a spider. Its bulk barely fit in the space
between the platform top and the tunnel ceiling above, and its immediate
surroundings were choked with webs.

This was a hunter, a terror of the Waterworks deep. Usually the
creature, as large as it was, could traverse the ceiling as well as the
floor, dropping down on its prey. But just now, here was a collection of
prey considerate enough to come to it. The spider couldn’t have been
more pleased.

The Abbot, supported by the elven officer, continued his charge. And
then, the spider… spat. A thick tendril of goo streaked forward from its
bloated abdomen, shooting directly towards the Abbot. Ben’s armor and
shield had few peers, and could turn away most attacks. Against an
attack that had no need to penetrate the metalwork, however, the
Belmakian had little to no defence. Only the deflecting aspect of his
still running Angelic Aura could rise to his aid… and it was
insufficient to the task. Within a moment, the Abbot was covered in a
thick wrapping of gooey web.

Ben sneered at the attack that otherwise did him no harm. “Your webs are
no match to the might of the Sky King!” he bellowed. Summoning all of
his Divinely granted strength, the Abbot flexed his enhanced muscles
against the webbing restraining him, fully expecting to break free from
them. But the webs barely moved. Ben could sense that he could muscle
his way free from them – eventually – perhaps in a matter of some
minutes. But in far less time than that, either the spider or his entire
expedition would likely long be dead.

This, however, was the moment Laquendi had been waiting for. Spiders
liked playing with their webs, she knew. Well, she in turn liked playing
with spiders who played with her webs. She chanted a simple Evocation
spell that was deemed a “Coming of Age” spell for wizards everywhere,
her hands tracing out a characteristic glowing red and orange pattern
that hung in mid air. Though this was absent its signature material
component of a bit of bat guano.

The end result, however, was the same, and a moment later a tiny, fiery
pellet streaked out from the dusky elf’s outstretched hand. It shot
forward, crossing the intervening distance to the spider in an orange
flash, only to detonate with a dull CRUMP right in the spider’s face. A
blast of fire surrounded the creature, extending in all directions
almost as far as the ensnared Abbot, and the elf beside him.

The fireball had no particularly visible impact on the spider itself. It
merely blinked its multiple eyes, one seeming to glare down the hallway
at Laquendi, promising imminent retribution. The effect on the spider’s
webs, however, was considerably more dramatic, burning them away into
less than ash in an instant, leaving flaming embers about everywhere.

The Abbot, however, was still covered in webs. Though now that they were
no longer anchored to anything, they were more of an annoyance, rather
than a hazard. They would slow, but by no means stop, his continuing
advance towards his spider tormentor. Now, Laquendi could have adjusted
her aim so that the Holy Man was in the flames as well as the spider.
That would certainly have cleared him from webs in record time. However,
Laquendi had decided that fireballing her community’s ecclesiastical and
secular ruler without prearranged permission would have been downright
rude. Perhaps she would remember to ask in advance, should there be a
next time.

As Finfin continued the remaining few feet of his charge, passing the
entangled Abbot, Laurelin completed a spellcasting of her own. This
spell, she knew, would give her complete Freedom of Movement, preventing
her from suffering the Abbot’s… if not fate, certainly his
inconvenience. And Lomi sent an arrow winging towards the huge spider,
right at about the same moment that Finfin’s blade struck the misshapen,
bloated creature.

Neither sword nor arrow appeared to do much in the way of harm to the
monster. But it did get its attention. Several of the eyes focused on
Finfin, identifying the elf as the nearest threat. With a speed that
belied its huge size, it lunged forward, biting down at the elf. Finfin
leapt ahead and slightly to the side, catching the bite against the
“strong” of his blade, that part closest to the hilt. In the same motion
that blocked the incoming attack, he swung the blade forward, completing
the “Crooked Cut” masterblow that cut deeply into the spider’s carapace.

Laquendi, from her perch on the ceiling a ways back, sent her final
salvo of Magic Missiles into the creature, even as an entangled Abbot
shambled forward the few feet that separated him from his Spider Foe.

“Your foul webs will not deter the righteous wrath of BELMAK!” he
exclaimed. And his swordwork showed those words were not mere empty
boasts, as he cut deeply into the vicious creature.

But next to him, Finfin’s single blade, guided by luck, experience, the
Sky King’s disdain for spiders, or some other unknown factor, struck
well and truly. With a powerful chop followed up by a deep thrust, the
elf ended the monster’s life. It was a group effort, Finfin well knew;
his was just the killing blow, standing on the shoulders of all of the
contributions that had preceded him.

But both Ben and Finfin had to step backwards to avoid being under the
bloated corpse as it collapsed, threatening to roll right on top of them.

Jeyshann walked up to the still web covered Abbot, scooping up a bit of
still flaming web from the floor. “May I be of assistance?” she asked
sweetly.

“Yes, please,” Ben replied politely. And with perhaps more glee than the
action required, the Cat Priestess proceeded to set the various strands
of webbing on the Abbot alight. Her joy was moderated, however, when it
became evident that perhaps thanks to his Angelic Aspect, the Abbot was
reasonably fireproof.

Meanwhile, Laquendi had advanced, looking for any further spider spawn
that needed to be slain. There were none to be seen, though there were
egg sacks aplenty, and these the entire Away Team set to destroying.

“So that,” Jeyshann sneered when the job was complete, “was Ecru. I am
NOT impressed.”

“Sweets?” Tramma asked, concern in the young bard’s voice. “I’m not
really sure that WAS Ecru.”

Finfin blinked at the news. “How do you mean? This was most certainly a
monstrous spider.”

“Oh, it was!” Tramma readily agreed. “Only, in every single folktale and
legend – and I know a LOT…”

“I’ll say,” Lomi interrupted. “And very vocal about it.”

Refusing to be baited, Tramma plunged ahead, “According to ALL of them,
there’s always a chest after defeating one of these Boss monsters.”

Everyone exchanged glances. In the course of searching for and squishing
the various spider egg clutches, they were all reasonably certain that
there was indeed no chest.

“So, no chest,” Tramma concluded, “no Boss. And no Boss, no Ecru. It’s
all too logical, I’m afraid.”

It was far from clear that everyone agreed with this reasoning. But
there was no doubting that for whatever reason, there was indeed no
chest. Just the gory remains of a dead spider that needed to be cleared
away to allow access to this tunnel’s ladder leading up to yet another
SJE township above.

Completing the retreat back the way they came was both uneventful, and
fast. Uneventful in that there were only the two relatively small side
passages at the site of the MegaPede battle left to clear… and there was
nothing more threatening than the ever present rising damp and the
occasional sign that not every creature who had met the MegaPedes had
fared so well. And fast as Jeyshann suggested that now that they’d
cleared its entire section, why didn’t they speed their return by using
the still running Wind Walk prayers that had brought them here, and flit
through the tunnels at a breakneck pace that would be hazardous to
material bodies, but safe enough for insubstantial clouds. On the off
chance that they DID find something that needed handling, they could
backtrack easily enough, resume being substantial, and deal with
whatever had interrupted them.

But no such interruptions occurred, and soon they were back in the
Upwinder HQ. To say that the Upwinder kobolds were glad to see them was,
perhaps, an understatement. Several broke out into a sort of kobold
dance or gavotte in an impromptu celebration. Though none seemed to want
to get too close to the blood and gore covered adventurers. Despite all
of the carnage, both the Abbot and Jeyshann looked as neat and clean as
if they’d just stepped into their laundered and neatly pressed outfits.

Nor did the Upwinders object when the Away Team offered to return
immediately and without delay back to their base camp. “I will see you –
ALL of you – tomorrow,” the Foreman cackled. “When you can finish the
fine job you have started. We’ll send teams to clean up the mess and see
what’s edible.”

And soon afterwards, the Away Team, once more in their Wind Walking
cloudy forms, were rapidly winging their way back to the Godcarver
winter camp that was also the temporary home of both Jeyshann’s Cat Mob
and the rest of the Abbot’s Expedition. On landing, Finfin suggested,
“First order of business is some Prestidigitation cleaning. Followed by
a hot bath, and perhaps even MORE Prestidigitation cleaning.”

He looked towards the sky, where the sun was still some considerable
ways from setting. “And if I and perhaps another wizard put our minds to
it and begin a new Arcane spell cycle NOW, we can come up with a number
of Identify spells to aid in figuring out the secrets of some of our
newly discovered items… and then retool AGAIN for tomorrow. Where I
encourage EVERYONE, myself very much included, to prepare a custom
tailored combat load for another day underground.”